Most yoga ‘teacher training’ courses these days involve on average 200 hours of study. The Isha Hatha Yoga Teacher training program was an intense 1,750 hours of training at Sadhguru’s Ashram in Coimbatore, India. This was almost 6 months of our energies focused on fully imbibing classical hatha yoga practices. The reasoning was that before we are permitted to teach it, we must first fully imbibe it. 

I was not used to the intensity of the routine: 4-5 hours of training in the morning,  lectures in the afternoon and then again 3-4 hours of training the evening, 7 days a week for 21 weeks. I was often in a lot of pain during the first few months till my body started to slowly adapt. Ultimately my posture and flexibility improved, my body felt lighter, and I could withstand longer hours of activity. I learned how to keep a greater distance from my thoughts, such that if any stressful, negative thoughts came, they had little to no adverse impact on my psychological state, my body, or the way I was with others.

Most importantly, I learned to bow down in deep gratitude to life -within and around me- and experienced looking at it with greater reverence , humility and respect. It was the most significant, enriching and liberating experience I have had so far in my life. I did not only learn how to practice and teach Hatha yoga, I learned how to be….